While this is a fascinating look at Khan's history, it's also told in a memoir style, and called into question immediately after his trial.    (Yes, trial, but it was all one story and told as a huge flashback; the present was intercut every now and then, but really only at the beginning of the issues.)

It made the story flow well, while also bringing in the events of the movie, and tying them to the past.   The fact that Khan himself is an unreliable narrator should have been obvious from the start, but I got so caught up in the story of his life that I simply believed everything he said. 

I believe much of this is based on not only the original Star Trek episode about Khan, but also supplemental material - like the Eugenics War novel - but that's the impression that I got.   I haven't actually read The Rise and Fall of Khan, so I don't really know.   

And of course, much of this is altered to fit the new universe and the new movies, so I know that some of this diverged from the TOS canon itself.   Khan made a fascinating narrator and I can see some of why he became the way he is in the details of his past, but it did lack an emotional connection.   I suppose having Khan, who isn't super emotional, tell this story makes that emotional disconnect feel reasonable, and made the story more realistic.   (I can't see him telling this story affably or with any great emotion.)   The catch-22 is that it made me distanced from this story in an emotional way, and so even when the one thing that really mattered - him being reunited with the other augments, whom he considered not only his crew but his family - came up, I didn't feel much.   

I enjoyed this greatly despite the lack of emotional connection.   Also, I'm in a rush, so I'm going to leave this review here.

Or the mimicking of them, which was just absolutely ridiculous.   And sadly, I loved the art, I loved the writing, I loved the story, and I loved what they did with the old continuity to make it new - one character in particular.  

It's a nice tie-in to Into Darkness... except the flares.  The flares were ridiculous, and at some points used in every panel, including partially over a characters face. I realize it was trying to mimic the look of the first, and second, movie - but it was trying to hard in this case.   It distracted from the story, from the artwork, and from my enjoyment.   It pulled me out of the story. 

I really, really despised the use of it in comic/graphic novel format.   If you're willing to put up with it, though, this is a wonderful read otherwise. 

I know there are lens flares in the movies.   But they're somehow more distracting in art form.   Why are there so many in this comic?

Yeah, sometimes I'm reading, and I feel like that...

Some of the surprises this year were wonderful. There were books that I have long been leery of that I found were fantastic. I found Series I wish either existed when I was young or I'd followed from the beginning. And I found this wonderful site called Booklikes that lets me review my books but also just share my thoughts, converse with fellow book lovers, and generally be my space on the internet.

Rating: 3/5

Summary: Filler story in between the 2009 and 2013 Star Trek movies.

Review: I read this before watching the movie but wanted to wait to write the review until after seeing it. This comic contained lots of good foreshadowing for the movie (I also think I figured out the general premise for the next movie, and I’m sure there will be another one). Also, I liked the way it handled relationships between Spock & Kirk and Spock & Uhura (again, more foreshadowing).

However, the story as a standalone was just decent. So as not to spoil, let’s just say that the actions of the “bad guy” didn’t seem that rational; he could have done so much more if he really wanted to help if he had, uh, used his resources better. But I’ve come to not expect logic from these new Star Treks (whether movies or comics) and just enjoy the action-y goodness (which this comic was filled with) and the prettiness of Spock (yes, I know, I’m being very shallow). Still, TNG and the original Star Trek (and crush-worthy Seven of Nine) are still my favorites.